When we last left our intrepid hero he had just qualified for the World's Championship with an unexpected win in Chicago. The few weeks were a bit of a roller coaster. I took a couple weeks off, and didn't think about the game at all. Completely unprepared for this, I had to gather some perspective. After my hiatus I worked full bore on the Bajorans. If I were to win, I would win with them, because everything I'd read said that the DS9 affiliations weren't worth using. I would prove everybody wrong.

My new "pet project" was a Cardassian Return Orb to Bajor deck, using many copies of Borad to supply the Orb icon. It was nutty enough that no one would expect it, or so I'd hoped. Making a Bajoran version of the deck proved far easier, with the great variety of skills in the Bajoran smorgasboard of Orb-iconed personnel, including the incredible Kira Nerys. My first inclination was to seed both returnable orbs at the same location (either Orb Negociations or Charcterize Neutrinos), but only twenty bonus points were not sufficient. I was also having trouble stopping myself after my orbs were collected.

So I am working on this mainly, and throwing together Fed decks at the same time if I cannot gather an epiphany.

Enter DS9. My deck moves from hoping to get the personnel I need to getting the personnel I need, no matter what. I am now able to plan my attack more specifically. Enter Surmak Ren. I had learned the subtle power of this multi-classification personnel as the key to passing Barclays under the Bajoran Affiliation. Kira and Surmak alone can solve Barclays, so it became feasible to self-seed one on top of my orbs to net another 10-20 points, depending on whether I split up my orbs or not.

Early October I drive down to Norfolk with Scott, whom I had defeated in Chicago to win my seat. I meet a lot of the Decipher people during my stay. It was a very enjoyable time, even though I'm not big on laser tag.

I spectated the Norfolk Open, helped some with the Padds, and basically observed the field. Scott was playing a variation of his nasty Chicago deck, optimized with advanced tactics, including the fine art of strategic passing that had at first begun as a joke during a playtesting session, and had evolved into a way to win without using the deck's main gimmick, a proverbial second gimmick. This turned out to be successful, as Scott faces his eventual final game opponent in the fourth round, and proceeds to sweep him 100-0 on the first turn, without any dilemmas seeded. When the final game came around, his opponent had no clue what Scott's deck actually did. Scott won, but not without a suspenseful moment or two.

It was here that I picked up the major components of my deck, as Return Orb to Bajors were available it seemed in every trade binder. Strange, since of the "points and cards" objectives in DS9, this was by far the best. So I picked up three HQ's in total, adding to the one I already had, as well as various other odds and ends. I also got to observe a similar deck design, as Roxanne Barbour from Vancouver had made the trip as well, and was playing a similar deck to the one I was working on. I stole her tactic of self-seeding a Sarjenka to stop myself. Until then I'd used either a Cytherians in space for 15 points, but it slowed me down quite a bit. On the ground I'd used Smoke Bombs. But a Sarjenka was much safer since it couldn't be countered.

The deck is beginning to take shape, running at a pace that I'd be expecting it to. Realization that freighters and free card plays are pretty strong. The major goal is to score fifty points before I begin to attempt missions, by scoring bonus points from Barclays and Sarjenka, and returning the two Orbs. This also nets me some card advantage that I can take advantage of with free cardplays at Docking Ports and Chamber of Ministers and, later on, Soong-type Androids. And once I've scored my fifty, I need only complete 2 missions for the win. Seems pretty solid.

I take it to a small local tournament. Only four past and present Worlds qualifiers and one defending Champion at this one. I go 2 and 2. I lose to Ray Coleman, '97 qualifier, playing an RBM/ATA/Holo-Q deck. I also lose to David Bowling, who needs no introduction, playing a Fed Engineering deck that blew me up with Scows. It would not have been so bad, but it was the first time a Destroy Scow was played on me, and I'd left my 2 ENGINEER androids sitting off of a ship. Boom.

Some tweeking is in order. Worlds is about three weeks away and the deck I'm running falters. I try not to worry too much, my 2 losses came more from inexperience than deck flaws. It worked perfectly in the other 2 games. I change personnel around, change missions around a bit. I add some Wormholes, and move my Intermix from my Tent to my main deck (gut feeling that not completing missions is going to be big). I add a Hide and Seek for Q-bypass.

The next big test was the Diplomatic Conference, a cross-regional competition, pitting the best of Qo'noS (the region I'm in) vs. the best of Betazed and Romulus (the neighboring regions). 50 players from New York, Ontario CA, Michigan, and even Illinois, converged on the campus of the University of Waterloo to do battle.

I had been recruited for the tourney shortly after winning the Chicago Regional, and this was the perfect environment to test my deck, a sizeable field and several past and present qualifiers in attendance. So I brushed up on my Canadian (I'm gonna catch a beer and some hockey, eh? Take off, ya hoser! I don't know what you're talking aboot.), and joined the caravan.

It was a packed house, a bit cramped, but all in all there was plenty of room to play. The tourney was run by Chris Lobban and Kim Burns, Ambassadors from Betazed (Ontario) and Qo'noS (Michigan). The prize support was incredible. Every UR card (a Fajo Collection, a WB Defiant, and a Future Enterprise) was up for grabs, as well as a plethora of packs, shirts, and other goodies.

Being the introverted guy I am, I don't mingle very much. We get in (after a 3 hour drive) about 30 minutes before the tourney starts. First round I'm paired against a new local player, using a mythical 300 card Borg deck.

Round 1 vs. Mythical Borg Deck

I had heard of these, though never playing against one. I'm sure they're a blast to play, and if I were not playing my planned World's deck I'm sure it would have been a very fun game. But it really didn't last very long. I got my 50 points and my card draws by turn 5. Dr. Soong gave me free Androids, and the Cybernetics to get by his Borg Servos, and I win the game before he can get a cube staffed.

We talk for a bit, he's a new player. I and sell him some cards he needs, since he really didn't have anything I was looking for at the time. I don't get too much, about enough to pay for lunch on the way up. It's all good.

2 (+100)

Round 2 vs. Kova Kill Thrill

I had heard this deck might be showing up, and when he seeded 12 hidden agendas I surmised that this might be the one. Lucky for me I'd moved my Intermix to my deck, as those were all computer crashes, meant to keep me from my tent, and thus my Intermix.

I begin immediately to bleed his crashes by using Tents. He flips his crash, and then I start the Nor deck manipulation to get to my Intermix. I end up getting it rather early, luckily not on a Promenade probe, so my opponent doesn't know I have it. Meanwhile, RBM's are having a field day with Kova's. He's up to about 50 points when I drop the Intermix on him. He has no chance of winning now, so he begins trying to keep me from scoring with RBM's. I've learned that in case of RBM (prolonged stopping style) you wait until you're ready to attempt the mission, then use the next two turns moving, and then beaming down, to get to your mission, since you get the first action on your turn. He asks for a ruling, and it goes in my favour. So I make it to my first Orb mission, get the Orb, and finish the mission for 30. I fly back to Bajor, return the Orb, then collect the second, and finish Bajor for the win.

4 (+200)

Round 3 vs. Fed Engineering

Third round I get to play Brent Knab, a player from my area. Brent's playing a Fed Engineering Deck. He begins attempting his missions immediately. I had Dead-Ended Repair Mission, so he immediately loses 10 points off an Edo Probe. He'd also seeded his CryoSatellite here. I download Surmak, Kira, and Odo and head right off to start collecting Orbs. When Brent figures out what I'm doing, he tents out for an Intermix and plays it. No problem, since I only get 50 bonus points.

First mission I hit his Q-Flash. Scottish Setter hits one of my Soong-Types, which I reprogram afterward back to a useful Classification. He gets Lemon-Aid points and Mandarin Bailiff points. Then I hit a Duonetic Field Generator and a Dalrok, which I control with the Orb Fragment. I solve the mission, then reprogram my 2 Soong-types to nullify the Duonetic.

Brent, needing to get 50 points to get by Dead End, does the Sammy Clemens trick for a quick 10, then attempts Explore Dyson Sphere. He hits a Borg Ship and resets.

Next turn I move over to my last mission. I hit another Q-Flash. He gets more Lemon-Aid and Bailiff points, but I end up solving the mission for the win. I win the game 100-17, technically, but because Brent had played Intermix Ratio and all his points are bonus, his points are reduced to zero. So I win 100-0 instead.

6 (+300)

Round 4 vs. Ore Processing ATA TAK

Round 4 I played fellow World's Qualifier Raven Karuna, as was documented in Chris (Maelwys) Lobban's report on WNOHGB. We both sported perfect scores. Our spaceline was strikingly similar, as his deck was based in the Bajoran Region as well. I seeded one Barclay's/Orb/Sarjenka combo underneath Relocate Settlers, which he had seeded and I had replaced. The rest of the spaceline I seeded normally, using the dilemmas I gained by "misseeding" to fortify my missions.

For the first three turns I d/l Kira, Odo, and Surmak Ren, as well as playing an X. Freighter for free. I take off and move to Relocate Settlers. Next turn I play HQ on Kira and beam down to see what Raven seeded. I hit a Q. Raven cancels the Q (why he did I do not know). So I pass right through, getting the Barclays points, the Orb, and ignoring the Sarjenka to complete the mission for 30. Raven plays an Anti-Time Anomaly. I have just enough time to fly to Bajor, Return the Orb, and get over to Cardassia to pick up and return my second Orb before it goes off. So I lose my three crew with 65 points.

I get started again. I drop Opaka, Soong, and 2 STA's the first turn after the ATA. Raven puts down a Static Warp Bubble and a TAK and starts working his way through my hand. He pegs off my Wormholes, and and when I try to Palor them, he Countermandas. When the Alien Probe hits the table it's just a matter of time until he finished off my hand. He plays another ATA and I have 3 turns to get the win. I attempt Bajor, but get stopped (I think by Odo's Cousin). I don't have Mora Pol at this time, so I have to move. He wormholes me to the GQ. All my wormholes are gone, and my crew dies in the Gamma Quadrant. It turns out I would have been able to pass the mission easily, and would have won the game. The second ATA kills me off

Raven then begins to work his way through my missions. My dilemmas cause him a bit of trouble, and he has to regenerate and re-download his crew a couple times. But with about five minutes left in the round, he finishes the last mission for the 100-60 win (another intermix had been played).

6 (+260)

Well, my first loss of the day, to a fellow qualifier. Not too bad, I guess. But this is the second time my deck has lost to an ATA deck, so I definitely must work on that. Sixth round pits me against another former qualifier, Ambassador David Nix, who'd recently moved to Michigan from North Carolina.

Round 5 vs. Fed STP Drop

I don't remember too much of this game. I remember getting my points rather quickly, and Dave dropped a handful of AU Feds after about five turns of massive card drawing. A Yuta takes out Commander Data, and then he doesn't have enough officers to pass Maglock. I end up winning 100-25, likely from a Lack of Prep or an Edo Probe, but one turn later I'd have lost the game, as Dave had gotten his Kurlan and would have taken out a mission and a Borg Cube for the win.

8 (+335)

Raven and David Bowling faced off this round, and settled into a 0-0 true tie. So while David B. was technically undefeated, by virtue of his true tie and his timed win I take second place, Raven placing above me with 9 victory points (4 full wins and a true tie).

Raven got first pick of the prize support. There was a WB Defiant, a Future Enterprise, and an entire Fajo Collection (to be split up) amongst the spoils. Raven takes the Defiant, and so I'm stuck :) with a Future Enterprise, which I really needed for my set.

All in all a good trip. We got to partake of some fine Canadian cuisine at Harvey's Hamburgers (the Canadian equivelant of Wendy's), and luckily didn't have to refill the gas tank until we got back over the border. We also had some misadventures at the Duty Free store, which I cannot elaborate on because of national security :).

And now Worlds is one week away. My deck has done well in it's second test, but it still has weaknesses that must be addressed, and Anti-Time Anomaly has become public enemy #1.

To be continued...